Various studies conducted in Europe and the United States show that daylight saving time has little effect on energy savings.
27 October Clocks will go back one hour across EuropeBut this may be the last time. If the expert petition is successful, the summer time agreement in the EU could be abolished.
They hope the issue will be taken up in the European Parliament elections on June 9. In 2018, Parliament voted to abolish biannual time changes. A survey of 4.6 million EU citizens showed strong support for its elimination.
The changes were scheduled to take effect in 2021 but were canceled just before the COVID-19 pandemic. now this controversy resurfacesOne of the main questions that has not yet received a definitive answer is whether daylight saving time actually reduces energy consumption.
Various studies have concluded that the impact of daylight saving time on the environment is negligible or even negative. So is it time for seasonal time changes?
Why was summer time implemented in Europe?
In the United Kingdom and Germany, daylight saving time was introduced during the First World War to save coal. It was abolished when the war ended, but was reintroduced in the 1980s as the need to save resources emerged again. world oil crisis.
All countries of the European Union since 2002 –except Iceland– They must adjust their hours on the last Sunday of March and October.
Does daylight saving time reduce energy consumption?
Various studies conducted in Europe and the United States show that daylight saving time has little effect on the display. energy saving.
In Italy, the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine calculated that even postponing the time change from the end of October to the end of November would save 70 million euros on the country’s fuel bills.
A study by researchers at Charles University in Prague used hourly data from 2010 to 2017 to find that daylight saving time in Slovakia resulted in estimated energy savings equivalent to just 0.8% of annual electricity consumption. A study conducted by the United States Department of Transportation in 1975 showed that daylight saving time reduced the country’s energy consumption by around 1%.
This negligible savings may be due in part to the fact that many Americans get out of bed before 7 a.m. Much of the energy saved by not having the lights on at night was offset by them being on in the morning.
A 1993 publication on fuel consumption (gas, coal) in France and Belgium stated that there was an increase in fuel consumption with the introduction of daylight saving time. Studies on the distribution of pollutants confirmed these data. Instead, natural time zones that are as close to solar time as possible will likely better align daily light and temperature curves with our schedules.
This might mean energy saving in industrial lighting and other types are heated first thing in the morning, in the cold months people go to work an hour late, so the heating is done first thing in the morning, and there is less need for air conditioning in the car when traveling after work and at home at night.
Will Europe stop changing its clocks?
Last year, experts asked the European Council to put the issue of abolishing time changes on its agenda. Since the proposal to end the time change has not yet been implemented, supporters of the abolition hope that the issue will now be taken up in the European Parliament elections in June.
The Time Use Initiative has launched an EU Time Policy Manifesto, which includes twelve necessary changes that Europe must make to secure its time policy. “just in time” to all Europeans.
“The EU must react to the negative impact of incorrectly set clocks by forcing its implementation in Europe permanent time periods “As close as possible to solar time (natural time),” the manifesto states.
ADVERT“Unbalanced hours causing programs to start before hours natural day-night cycle They cause negative effects on human health, economy and security by increasing sleep deficiency. “The EU has the power to change this,” he concludes.
